Old Fountain, Old Street, EC1

A lively pub just off the City Road with two connecting rooms at slightly different levels, with the bar down the side of both. Decor is fairly plain and uncluttered. Ales on pump were Lost & Grounded Autumn Protagonist, Tring Hound Dog, Oakham Citra and Anspach & Hobday Golden Best, with a selection of craft keg also. Not an exceptional pub but pleasant enough and some interesting beers which seemed well-kept.

This is a cracking pub, a regular haunt of mine when working in London. Exhaustive reviews mean that I have very little to add except that the beer is always excellent and the company is usually pretty good as well. Some are even happy to talk to a Northerner! :-))

Tucked away down a side street but just a short stroll away from the Old Street roundabout, it looks like a rather rough and ready old boozer from the outside, and that, together with the high volume of noise emanating from within, meant we weren’t quite sure what to expect. Inside though it’s something of a surprise being really quite contemporary, and populated largely with bearded hipster types as might perhaps be expected going on the locality. The first thing we noticed on entering was the semi-open kitchen and service counter, so were wondering if this was actually a pub or restaurant, but beyond this is a regular bar and a good choice of beers. The flooring was sanded wooden boards, whilst new back wood panelling had been fitted to the lower part of the walls, with cream plasterwork above. The pub stretches between two streets with an entrance at both ends, and the windows included lots of stained glass panels. A small black fireplace and wood burning stove was off to one side, and there was also a large fish tank. A sign pointed upstairs to an outside terrace, but we did not investigate this. Dark brown leather benches stretched around much of the perimeter, and there were several old black and white pictures of the locale dotted around the walls. A projector screen was rolled up, suggesting perhaps that major sporting events are screened. There was a good choice of beers on tap, all displayed on a chalk board at the end of the bar, and on this occasion consisted of Tring Mansion Mild, Anspach & Hobday Tri-Stout, Summer Wine Oregon, Tring Drop Bar, Five Points Citrus Pale, Thornbridge Astryd, Oakham Citra and London Pride. There were also a dozen or so craft beer options on keg. Ciders meanwhile were Abrahalls AM and Crafty Apple, both of which were new ones on me. Overall, this is clearly a renowned pub for it’s beer, but it lacks the cosy ambience that I normally look for, and the harsh acoustics meant that it was very noisy and I was quite glad to leave for some peace and quiet.